Beijing (AP) – The show goes on – even without Thomas Bach. The IOC President, to whom a statue has just been dedicated in Beijing, will not honor the Winter Paralympics, which begin on March 4, with another trip to China.
Regrets in the Paralympic scene are limited. “That’s a pity,” says Friedhelm Julius Beucher, President of the German Disabled Sports Association (DBS) succinctly when asked by dpa.
A major advantage of the Paralympics is that they don’t have to be used as a political prestige object like the Olympics. And so the games of the handicapped athletes also want to show themselves in China as the more original games. Many see the venue critically. Which is why Beucher’s anticipation is “really limited to the competitions”.
Beucher criticizes the allocation of the games
Beucher, who was already critical of Beijing when the 2008 Summer Games were awarded in 2001 as chairman of the Sports Committee in the German Bundestag, explained that the IOC lacked “awareness of socio-political responsibility”. After such awards, the athletes are “the victims who are practically taken into clan custody. And forced to make sporting comparisons in places for which there should actually be no social recognition”.
The German athletes are not prohibited from expressing themselves too critically about China – but they do receive an indication of possible risks. “I don’t shut anyone up. Everyone can speak their mind freely. These are responsible people,” said the President: “But I also have a duty of care. If we get indications that there are consequences for dealing with social issues in China I have to point this out to my athletes.”
He was “in conversation with many people who know the country very well,” reported the 75-year-old: “And they unanimously confirmed that after 2008, not only has nothing improved in terms of freedom rights and human rights, but that it is still there has gotten worse.” With regard to the situation of people with disabilities in China, however, “it has to be stated that things have improved significantly since the 2008 Paralympics. I can’t judge to what extent this is real participation”.
Poor accessibility in China
In any case, there is no big breakthrough. China has around 85 million disabled people, more than Germany has inhabitants. However, accessibility is still poor. And the belief that with disabled children they will be punished for something bad in a previous life is still common among parents.
Devaluation is already evident in the language. The mentally handicapped were often simply dismissed as “idiots” (shazi). For a long time, disabled people were also called “Canfei”: “Disabled and useless.” Today, the not very successful term “canji” is mostly used, as much as “disabled and sick”. Associations for the disabled advocate “Canzhang”, which means something like “incomplete” or simply “disabled”.
Dealing with disabled people often seems to overwhelm families and society. Again and again scandalous cases are uncovered where disabled people are discovered in the countryside in cages or chained and poorly cared for. China’s government has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but implementation is lacking.
After all, the government requires at least 1.5 percent of jobs to be given to disabled people. Those who do not meet the quota have to pay penalties. The proceeds flow into a fund that supports vocational training and job placement for the disabled.